Barielle End of Summer Sale

Haven't had time the last few days to do my nails, so it will be a few days before you see any nail art from me.  Big things coming down the pike and I am very excited, but it is taking a lot of my time.  In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about Barielle's End of Summer sale.

Barielle has released it's fall colors and they are all included in the sale in addition to their nail care products.  You will be seeing the new colors right here at Light of the Moon Nails soon!

You can find all of the products HERE.  See you soon!

Zoya Sale!

Just wanted to let you know about this Zoya sale that is going on now.  Go quick though, it is ending soon!

SALES - SALES - SALES!

Just a quick little post.  I have run across a BUNCH of sales going on in the polish world and thought I would share them with you, my lovely readers!

Sally Beauty

 This is only applicable to the clearance polish.  You have to use the promo code (in tiny print above) to get the deal.

Cult Nails

 I have heard that you cannot use both of these codes at once.  Don't worry, just get you limited edition colors today and you have till the end of the month to use the 20%.

Barielle

 Barielle has revamped their website and it is fantabulous!  No more trying to guess what the color will look like on the nail or scrounging on search sites for swatches!  Pick your skin tone and polish and it shows what it will look like.  Just click the "Try it on" button.  Gotta be quick with this sale though, it ends today!

Julep

Julep's Cinco de Mayo sale is a great deal.  Doesn't look like it, right?  But add the coupon code “PERK10” to save $10 off your $20 purchase! And if you are a Maven, you can take advantage of their free shipping. If you are a Maven you can get 4 polishes for $10 shipped!  Not a Maven?  JOIN HERE.  I can't find any info on when this sale will end, but it is definitely worth a look.

That's it!  Let me know in the comments if you take advantage of any of these as I love to know when I succeed at being an awesome enabler!

SALE on Polish Oranizing Stuff!

*This post contains affiliate links*

Alright my lovely readers, I don't do this very often, but I came across some awesome and well priced polish organization stuff on one of my short term sale sites, HauteLook.  This sale is only good till Tuesday 1 pm pacific.  To find these goodies, just click on the link, sign in/up, go to the Home events (link at top strip) and choose The Finest Acrylic Organizing Products.  Just so you know, this is an affiliate link (I get $10 if you make any purchase using my link.)

Nail Polish Organizer  2 tier $11 or 4 tier $12

 

 

IPhone Case Holder $15

IPhone Case Holder $25

These could be perfect for organizing moYou stamping plates or other rectangular stamping plates!

Clear Nail Cube $6

Another nice little cube for holding oft used essentials while using a small footprint on your desk.  I plan on storing my (many) top/base coats on top and smaller tools on the bottom.

These are just what went into my cart.  There are a lot of other organizers not specific to polish to look at.  Let me know in the comments if you want to see more "sale" posts?  See you later today with the first Never Ending Pile post! 
 

Essie Sale!

Quite awhile ago I said I would let you know when I come across any sales.  I have not been keeping up on that (mostly because the nail budget is busted) but wanted to let you know of one today.

Cut and Blow has both of the Essie fall collections on sale for $5 individually or $30 for each full set.  Essies at the price of drug store polish!

By clicking below you will be taken to my affiliate account and earn me free stuff AND get 10% off your first order.

Cut and Blow Essie Sale

Swatchin Saturday on Monday - Mentality

Before I get it to the swatchfest, I want to acknowledge something.  I stated that this would be up on Saturday and now it is Sunday.  I could make lots of excuses....Had to work on Saturday then had a girls night out and drank a bit too much and then there was the whole "what polish is this" situation (I will explain later) but truth be told, this post was a huge undertaking for me (who has only done one previous swatch post) with tons of pics and TWO self made gifs.  Whew, but I hope you think it was worth it, I do!

One more thing, did anyone notice that I passed the 200 post mark?

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Yes, even Patrick is...excited?  But more thrilling than that.....my one year blogiversary is just around the corner!  Watch for a huge giveaway going on mid November to celebrate!  Now on to the polish.

Look at all these purdy little bottles just waiting to be cracked open.  All of these, except the middle one, were purchased by yours truly (Don't tell the hubby!).  Mentality Not For Sale was a free with purchase and, as stated in the name, cannot be purchased.  This special polish is being saved for the blogiversary giveaway, so you will not see any swatches here, but you know how to Google, don't ya?

When I first saw these mattes used in nail art at Gnarly Gnails HERE they went straight to my Indie Wants pin folder.  In the comments I put "matte metallics - MUST OWN".  Within 24 hours I had searched their whole Etsy store, added to my cart, searched my stash to see if I had anything similar, removed from cart, added more, removed more, checked the polish budget balance and had the insane desire to cry because I couldn't purchase EVERY SINGLE Collection!  I'm serious!  Words cannot begin to describe my love for this Indie Polish, but you know me, I will try anyways!

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Mentality is created by a husband a wife team.  This isn't totally unusual in the indie polish world, but what makes this team different is that Danny creates the polish while Hillary manages the business.  I think it is the testosterone influence that makes these polishes unique, kinda like ManGlaze only better.  If you want to know more about this partnership, check out their blog HERE.  

As you can see above, some of the collections are studies in shades of color and they produce several mattes.  I can't wait to do some gradients with these tonal studies.  Most of the polishes are dark colors right up my alley.  At this moment I am on a bit of a brown kick, so I got several of them.  So I will stop gabbing now and show you what you came here for....the swatches.  

Application on all of these polishes were excellent with no cuticle flooding.  The mattes surface dry quickly but take a bit longer to fully dry, which means they stay dentable for longer, as witnessed by the dents in some of these swatches.  This is normal for mattes and they always trick me with their seeming dryness so don't let my impatience throw you off.  Lets start with the browns.

Artificial Light

With Flash

 
This is two coats of Mentality Hope, although you may be able to get away with one.  Hope is a brown matte polish that leans gold in some lights and bronze in others (as you can see below).  I LOVE this because, although it is a "gold" shade, it is not an *in your face* gold.  Because of the metallic finish, it tends to show brush strokes....kinda like a pearl finish....so don't overwork it.
  

Here I have added top coat to the tips so you can see how versatile their mattes are.  Leave them matte or add top coat for a totally different look.  I have always been of the opinion that I would rather top coat a matte polish than matte coat a regular polish as it seems to me that the matte coated polish never looks as good as a matte polish and the top coated matte has such a gorgeous depth/finis.  This, of course, is just my personal opinion with no facts to back it up.  Hmmm, I feel a comparison post percolating at the back of my already full to the brim brain.  Yep, there is one of those dents on my middle finger :)

Artificial Light

With Flash

Mentality Rebel is another matte.  "Hi, my name is Tina and I am a matteaholic."  "Hi Tina."  (Tee hee).  Application on this was better than Hope in that it didn't show brush strokes as much.  This is two coats again.

 Here we have a funky french with top coat.  Ooooo look at that sparkly maroon leaning brown.  Once again, can you hear my heart go pitter pat?  *sigh*

Artificial Light

With Flash

Mentality Prim is one of their "stampers".  It has a satin/semi-gloss finish.  Although I haven't tried stamping with it yet, I think it looks gorgeous on it's own.  Just look at that holo under the flash.  Don't quite see it?  Well how about here?

  
I would consider this one a scattered holo.  I feel like this is very unique because of the satin finish.  So purdy!

Artificial Light

With Flash

This is the polish I like the most and it is the one I did not order.  If you saw my last post you know that there is some question as to what this is.  It is labeled as Raucous, which is what I ordered, but I suspect it is Foxy, another one of their stampers.  Either that or it is a one off polish, unique unto itself.  Wouldn't that be fun!  I have to be honest, this was a happy mistake.  This is my favorite of all I received!  It is a rusty brown satin holo and I am in love, no matter what it's name!  And as it is a holo, of course there is a gif!

*Full of warm fuzzies*  <== Me right now!  Words escape me and that is pretty unusual in and of itself.  As soon as I know what this is, I will let you know.  Hopefully it is Foxy so you can get it too!  Now on to the non-browns.

Artificial Light

With Flash

  
Mentality Courage is another matte, this time a red-black.  It is dark and vampy, just like I like 'em!  Once again the formula was great and no application problems.  This is two coats.

With Flash

Striped with top coat you can see the beauty of this!  Oh how I love this!  It is one that I can see me using matte AND top coated...and often!  Once again, words escape me so just gaze at the pictures a bit more :)

Artificial Light

With Flash

Mentality Resilience is my favorite of the mattes I purchased.  It is a teal leaning black and you know how I love me a dark polish.  Ready for some top coat?

I loved this so much that I had to do a little something special with it, hence the dotticure flowers.  That is Ozotic 510 in the middle.  Oh, and did you notice the stunning teal shimmer under that top coat?  *Swoons*.

So, what do you think of these?  As infatuated as I am?  You can purchase these and tons more at their Etsy store HERE or Big Cartel shop HERE and follow them on Facebook HERE.  Oh, and by the way, they have their Red, Blue and Pink Ombre Mattes ON SALE for $5 until tonight, 12/14/13, at midnight PT at their Etsy store.  PLUS they have free shipping within the United States.  Yep, you know I got me some more matte beauties!

My First Review is Doctor Who!

*Products pictured were provided for my honest review.

I am very excited to share with you a little something from LynBDesigns newest Doctor Who release, "Innuendos in Space".  I want to tell you, right here, before we get to the swatches, that Jenna is currently giving a DISCOUNT at her Etsy store, LynBDesigns, from now until August 1.  Using the code found at the top of her store HERE, you can get 50% off!  Hurry over to pay less than drug store prices for these, and many more, unique, handmade polishes.
 

Why so excited?  Well, not only do I own several of Jenna's lovely polish potions, I also LOVE Doctor Who.  I have been a Whovian since I was very little.  I remember sitting behind my father's recliner....sticking my head out to watch and hiding behind it when things got scary.  Those were the days before satellite and BBC America and we could only see it on PBS sporadically.  Since I am enamored of the Doctor and love Jenna's formulas, get ready for one long, pic heavy post!

Let's start with the hard to capture I Was Only Saying "Hello".  It tickles me that this polish was so hard to photograph, considering that Captain Jack Harkness is so easy on the eyes (tee hee).  Not to mention that he will flirt...and more...with anyone, male, female, alien.  The captain has to be my favorite male companion...and that is putting it lightly.  I even loved the spinoff, Torchwood, that he stars in.  By the by, if you have Stars movie package, they are having a Torchwood marathon on Sunday 8/4 with all the episodes of the last season.  You know that I will be glued to my polish corner, doing manis and overdosing on Captain Jack!  Okay, ENOUGH!  Let's get back to the polish!

 

You can see in this pic how much my camera hated this blue.  Go back to the first pic for accurate coloring for the base....I photoshoped the heck out of it!  I Was Only Saying "Hello" is a beautiful and unusual shade of blue...bright and saturated, yet it leans to the grey....filled with teal squares, white hexes, black micro hexes and silver speckles.

 

This is three coats of I Was Only Saying "Hello" topped with a coat of Seche Vite.  I could have gotten away with two coats, but I am a little obsessive about VNL, so felt the need to add a third.  I had a bit of trouble with the brush pulling lateral "divots" in the polish (see my index finger), but I have this problem with a lot of other polishes also, which makes me assume that it is caused by my technique, not the polish.  That is why I like self leveling polishes.  It is completely unnoticeable IRL, however, and only shows in the loved/dreaded macro shots.  The glitters in this are well distributed.  No fishing was required and they applied like a dream.

 















So, imagine the blue on the left, a touch brighter and more saturated, add the teal squares on the right, picture the seemingly white micro glitter as silver, and you will have an inkling of what this glitter filled crelly looks like.

I just wanted to point out that Jenna is a GENIUS with these types of blues.  It harkens (pun intended) to a previous and absolutely gorgeous blue in her Princess Bride collection, Don't Torture Me, a startling yet subtle and indescribable pale blurple filled with white shards.  I have never had as many complements on a polish as I had with that one.  If you don't own it, throw it in your basket while you are taking advantage of her discount!  Do it, you won't regret it!

Tesalecta's Kiss.  According to Jenna, this was inspired by the episode "The Wedding of River Song" and the moment she kisses "The Doctor".

I can't think of a more appropriate concoction for this moment.  It is a lovely nude polish flushed with a subtle pink shimmer.  So beautiful!

 
The bottle I received was a bit thick, but throwing in a couple drops of thinner solved this problem.  Unlike some shimmer polishes, this was easy to apply with very few brush strokes showing.  It was like gentle and long awaited love on my tips.  *sigh*  I miss River.

  
Next we have Hermits United.  Somehow I missed getting a bottle shot *whacks forehead*.  A hermit? With friends?  Hermits united!

I'm not usually a white filled with glitter polish fan, but for this, I might make an exception.  Why?  First, it is not your typical, run of the mill white/glitter combo, and you know how I love me an unusual polish!

   
There are all kinds of colored micro glitters crammed into this cave (show reference), but the majority are gold and black.  It reminds me of white granite....or marble?  Very stone like.  Application was "Good fun.  For a hermit".  This is three coats, although it was fully opaque in two.  This prodigious glitter will definitely need a thick top coat...unless you like the dull textured look.  Actually, it could probably be worn both ways...hmm, may have to try it in my next textured mani.

This was inspired by one of my all time favorite episodes (so far).  The dialog...such genius.  Makes me cry every time.  Oh, You Beautiful Idiot is a clear base filled with matte teal stars and different blue and green glitters.

Jenna describes this as a glitter topper, but I'm not a glitter topper type, so I wanted to see how flexible it was, hence the glitter skittle.  I love the fact that this is so multifaceted.  You can use it for a glitter topper, for a gellie samwich, or a full on glitter bomb, depending on what technique you use.  All were layered over Tesalecta's Kiss. 

Thumb is three coats.  Index is is three coats with the last being daubed on.  Middle is two coats.  Ring is one coat.  Pinkie is three coats with the final coat daubed on.  Here are some close ups.


Imagine this layered over a metallic teal polish!  The first couple applications, I was fishing for those stars, but after one or two dips, they were hopping onto the brush with glee.  They did take some coaxing for placement when stroked on, but I found that daubing was the best technique if you are looking for a glitter bomb.  If you wanted, you could daub two or three layers over a nakid nail for full coverage.

 

I have saved the best for last:  It's Mauve and Dangerous.  This is inspired by one of the episodes my husband refuses to watch, "The Empty Child".  Says it is "irritating".  But it is the episode where we first meet the aforementioned Captain Harkness.

 Look at all that linear holo goodness!  Jenna calls this a "mauvey pink", but I would call it the best pale purple in my stash.

 This is three coats for full coverage, although if you don't mind VNL, two coats will do ya.  I layered over Nfu-Oh Aqua base, as I do all my holos, but I don't think it needed it.  Aqua base provides a smooth surface for application, but because this is what I consider a crelly base, I suspect no ridges would show, even with one coat.  I did apply one coat of Seche Vite, but it didn't really need it since it is a shiny beauty on it's own.  The top coat did dull the holo very slightly, but remember that I have OCD tendencies, so I don't think normal people would even notice (tee hee).  

I did experience some dragging during application...but, WHO CARES!  Look at that color!  Look at that rainbow!  You know a gif is coming!

I can't even begin to describe how happy this makes me!  Such a lovely, peaceful shade chock full of holo.  And only $4 with discount until August 1st!

Once again, Jenna's polishes can be found at LynBDesigns on Etsy HERE, along with cuticle oil and handmade perfumes.  Run!  Before the discount is gone!  What are you still doing here?!?

Tina